1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cartridge that houses a recording medium in a case and is disposed with a write-protect function that switches between a state in which it is possible to record to the recording medium and a state in which it is not possible to record to the recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a cartridge that houses within a case a recording medium, such as a disc medium or recording tape wound around a reel, a write-protect portion is disposed for preventing erasure of data recorded on the recording medium. The write-protect portion is generally disposed on a rear surface side of the case so that whether or not it is possible to recording to the recording medium can be identified with the eye in a state in which the cartridge is stacked in a thickness direction and in a state in which the cartridge is housed in a holder of a library device. A label area for affixing a label, on which is written the content (e.g., title) recorded on the recording medium, is disposed on the rear surface of the case.
Such a cartridge will be described below on the basis of FIGS. 10A and 10B. In FIG. 10A is shown an oblique perspective view of a rear surface (rear) side portion of a cartridge 100 seen obliquely from below. The cartridge 100 comprises a hollow case 102, which is formed by mutual peripheral walls of an upper case 102A and a lower case 102B being put together and within which is housed a single reel wound with magnetic tape.
A write-protect portion 104 is disposed on the rear surface side of the case 102, which is opposite to a side loaded into a library device. The write-protect portion 104 includes an opening 108 that passes through a rear wall 106 of the case 102. The opening 108 comprises rectangular cutouts 108A and 108B respectively disposed in the upper case 102A and in the lower case 102B, and is positioned across a parting line PL. A long hole 112 is disposed in the width direction of the case 102 (longitudinal direction of the rear wall 106) in a bottom panel 110 of the lower case 102B.
The write-protect portion 104 also includes a mistaken erasure prevention plug 114 that serves as a changeable member. The mistaken erasure prevention plug 114 includes an operational protrusion 116, which is slidably disposed at an inner side of the rear wall 106 and projects into the opening 108, and an identification protrusion 118, which projects into the long hole 112.
By operating the operational protrusion 116 and sliding the mistaken erasure prevention plug 114 in the longitudinal direction of the rear wall 106, the mistaken erasure prevention plug 114 is alternatively switched between a recordable state that allows a drive device to record information onto the magnetic tape and an non-recordable state that makes it impossible for (forbids) the drive device to record information onto the magnetic tape (i.e., a prohibited state).
Specifically, in the cartridge 100, when the identification protrusion 118 is positioned at the arrow D side of the long hole 112, as shown in FIG. 10A, the mistaken erasure prevention plug 114 is placed in the non-recordable (prohibited) state, and when the identification protrusion 118 is positioned at the arrow E side of the long hole 112, as shown in FIG. 10B, the mistaken erasure prevention plug 114 is placed in the recordable state. That is, when it is identified at the drive device by optical identification means or by mechanical identification means resulting from contact with a pin that the arrow D side of the long hole 112 is closed off by the identification protrusion 118, recording of information onto the magnetic tape is not allowed. In this manner, the drive device generally identifies from below the case 102 whether or not recording is possible.
In the non-recordable state, the opening 108 is closed off by the mistaken erasure prevention plug 114, and in the recordable state, a through hole 120 disposed in the mistaken erasure prevention plug 114 further to the arrow D side than the operational protrusion 116 corresponds to the opening 108, and the opening 108 is opened. Thus, the user can visually confirm from the rear surface side of the cartridge 100 whether the cartridge 100 is in the non-recordable state or in the recordable state (i.e., whether or not recording is possible). Moreover, a mark 122 (e.g., a graphic representing a closed lock) representing the fact that the cartridge 100 is in the non-recordable state is disposed at a portion of the mistaken erasure prevention plug 114 that closes off the opening 108 in the non-recordable state, to thereby prevent mistaken confirmation on the part of the user.
A label area 124, which is rectangular when seen from the rear surface, is disposed slightly away from the opening 108 on the rear wall 106. The label area 124 comprises recesses 124A and 124B respectively disposed in the upper case 102A and in the lower case 102B, and the parting line PL is positioned at a substantial center of the label area 124. By disposing the write-protect portion 104 near a left end (the end in the direction of arrow E) of the rear wall 106, it is possible to affix a large label in the longitudinal direction of the rear wall 106.
In this manner, in the cartridge 100, because the write-protect portion 104 and the label area 124 are disposed in the rear wall 116 that forms the rear surface of the case 102, the user can identify information recorded on the label and whether or not recording on the cartridge 100 is possible, and can operate the mistaken erasure prevention plug 114 to switch between the recordable and non-recordable states, even if only the rear surface of the cartridge 100 is exposed due to the cartridge 100 being stacked in the thickness direction or housed in a holder of a library device.
It is preferable for the label area 124 to be as large as possible. In particular, it is preferable for the label area 124 to be as long as possible in the longitudinal direction of the rear wall 106. It is also preferable for the write-protect portion 104 to be maintained in a state in which it is possible for the drive device to confirm from below the case 102 whether or not recording is possible, for it to be possible to visually confirm from the rear surface side of the case 102 whether or not recording of the cartridge 100 is possible, and for it to be possible to switch between the recordable and non-recordable states by operating the mistaken erasure prevention plug 114 from the rear side surface.
However, in the above-described conventional cartridge 10, it has not been possible to increase the longitudinal dimension of the label area 124, because the label area 124 and the opening 108 of the write-protect portion 104 are adjacently disposed in the longitudinal direction of the rear wall 106. Also, because the label area 124 is disposed across the parting line PL in order to increase its size, the step created by the parting line PL has been an obstacle to writing characters on the label and reading those characters.